Ministry of Internal Affairs (Ukraine)
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- This article is about the police authority of Ukraine. For the description of policing methods common to post-Soviet states, see Militsiya.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs (Ukrainian: Міністерство внутрішніх справ України, Ministerstvo vnutrishnikh sprav Ukrayiny, MVS) is the national police authority of the Ukraine. It is a centralized agency headed by a Minister of Internal Affairs (currently Yuriy Lutsenko), who is not only a formal member of the Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers, but also the actual commander of the country's police.
The generic term for the Ukrainian police (and for police in most of the post-Soviet countries) is militsiya.
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[edit] History
[edit] MVS in the Soviet Republic of Ukraine
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine originates from the Soviet NKVD's branch in Ukrainian SSR - the "NKVD of the UkrSSR", which was later reformed into the "Ministry of Internal Affairs of UkrSSR" (Ministerstvo vnutrishnikh sprav Ukrayins'koyi SSR). Both agencies were merely a regional branch of the all-Soviet Ministry of Internal Affairs, and essentially a militsiya force since the late 1950s.[1]
Despite some operational autonomy, all regulations and standards of policing were established by the central Ministry; Moscow was directly co-ordinating important operations in Ukraine (such as anti-corruption investigations regarding statesmen of higher levels or other politics-related issues), including deployment of detective brigades from central offices in case of need. TheMilitsiya of the Ukrainian SSR used the same ranks, insignia and vehicle liveries as the rest of the Soviet militsiya.
[edit] Non-police services
Like all the Soviet Ministries of Internal Affairs, the Ukrainian SSR MVS included not only the militsiya, but also the republican branch of non-police services, such as:
- Passport and registration offices
- Internal Troops and prison administration[2]
- Fire and rescue service
[edit] MVS and political repressions in Soviet Ukraine
MVS of the Ukrainian SSR has been directly involved in Soviet political repressions in Ukraine at all stages. Since the splitting of the NKVD and detachment of the secret police to the MGB-KGB, the militsiya became a secondary instrument of repression in the hands of the KGB, fulfilling such tasks as:
- conducting fabricated charges of non-political crimes against Ukrainian dissidents (like Vyacheslav Chornovil)
- tackling occasional mass protests against Soviet rule
- maintaining the propiska regime
- participation in ethnic-related repressions and restrictions
- assisting in the persecution of religion
- direct persecution of homosexuals and various restricted cultural movements (like rockers, punks, bikers, karate students etc.)
[edit] MVS of the independent Ukraine
[edit] Post-Independence reformation
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Since independence and before the 2004 Constitutional Reform, Ukraine's Minister of Internal Affairs was directly subordinate to the President of Ukraine (appointed by the President unilaterally), also a formal member of the Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers.
Before the Orange Revolution, only militsiya Generals (not civil statesmen), were appointed Ministers.
[edit] MVS in the Gongadze Case: "Eagles of Kravchenko"
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The Ukrainian militsiya has a significant record of law violation and human rights abuse. The most notorious case is the agency's involvement in the murder of journalist Georgiy Gongadze in 2000. Soon after Gongadze's disappearance, recordings of a Major Melnychenko were revealed. A fragment of the recorded conversations portrayed MVS Minister Kravchenko promising President Kuchma to "take care" of the oppositional journalist. According to the recordings, Kravchenko told Kuchma that he controls a special group of high-class detectives "without any morals, and ready to do anything".
The decapitated and disfigured body of Gongadze was found later in a forest, and a long-lasting investigation started. In 2005, soon after the Orange Revolution, the first results of the case appeared. Three members of the MVS detective squad were charged with the abduction and murder of Gongadze. An international warrant was issued for their chief, General Oleksiy Pukach, who was supposedly hiding abroad. In March 2005, ex-Minister Kravchenko, the main participant of the case, was found shot in the head (supposedly by his own hand).
In the Melnychen recordings, the hitmen group was called "orly" Ukrainian: орли (literally "eagles") by the Minister. (Orly here it is not a proper name, but a traditional Russian common name for brave and skillful soldiers). Since then, the phrase "Orly of Kravchenko", became a symbol of lawlessness and brutality in Ukrainian law enforcement.
[edit] MVS and the UBK campaign
In 2000-2001, the MVS was trying to tackle the Ukraine without Kuchma mass protest campaign against President Leonid Kuchma, using various methods: from direct attacks to the infiltration of provocateurs. The final confrontation took place on March 9, 2001 on the central streets of Kiev, including clashes between protesters and anti-riot units, and mass arrests of youngsters in the city.
[edit] MVS in the Orange Revolution
- Further information: The role of Ukrainian intelligence and security agencies in the Orange Revolution
During the 2004 election and the Orange Revolution, the MVS did not confront the opposition protests, although media sources claim that respective orders were given to its anti-riot units by senior commanders and leaders of the country. Minor clashes between protesters and the Berkut happened in the city of Chernihiv, but both sides agreed that they were incidental and provoked by unknown forces. The opposition also accused the militsiya of involvement in attempted electoral fraud that occurred at polling stations.
[edit] Post-revolution developments
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In February 2005, as part of the post-election democratic changes, President Viktor Yushchenko appointed Yuriy Lutsenko as the new Minister of Internal Affairs. Unlike his predecessors, Lutsenko is a career politician and has never served in the militsiya or any other law enforcement agency. Moreover, as one of the Socialist Party of Ukraine main figures, Lutsenko participated in several protest campaigns and conflicts with the militsiya. The new minister demanded resignations from those militsioners involved in racketeering. Thus, a significant step has been made towards the establishment of civil control over the Ukrainian police.
In January 2006, Minister Lutsenko admitted that the MVS is in possession of the evidence that would allow them to question and charge ex-President Leonid Kuchma in a privatization wrongdoing case, if only the MVS had the authority for starting such a case autonomously.
[edit] Resubordination of 2006
According to 2004 constitutional amendments that took effect after the 2006 parliamentary elections, the Minister is now nominated by the Prime Minister and appointed by the Verkhovna Rada (parliament), without formal influence of the President.
Yuriy Lutsenko, the Minister at the time, who was previously appointed under the old procedure, was reappointed, thus becoming the first-ever MVS Minister to be agreed upon by the parliamentary coalition and appointed by parliament.
On December 1, 2006, Verkhovna Rada dismissed Lutsenko and appointed Vasyl Tsushko of the Socialist Party as the new Minister. Like his predecessor, Tsushko is also a civil politician (and previously a vineyard manager), not connected to the militsiya before his appointment. Additionally, Tsushko is the first-ever MVS Minister not subordinated to the President.
[edit] Recent developments
In May 2007, the on-going political crisis in Ukraine lead to a jurisdiction dispute over the country's Internal Troops. Following minor political clashes involving the militsiya and presidential security forces, President Viktor Yuschenko issued a decree resubordinating Internal Troops from the Ministry of Internal Affairs directly to the President. The MVS criticized both the decree and the subsequent troop movements.
Both sides of the political crisis managed to avoid further clashes between law enforcers. Now the Internal Troops, as well as all militsiya units, returned to their routine tasks and re-established practical co-ordination.
However, the legal dispute over Internal Troops remains unsolved. The Troops command declares its subordination to the President - according to the decree which is currently being appealed in court by the Cabinet of Ministers.
[edit] Ministers of the Internal Affairs of Ukraine
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- Yuriy Kravchenko
- Yuriy Smirnov
- Yuriy Lutsenko
- Vasyl Tsushko
[edit] Internal Troops of Ukraine
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For more details on Internal Troops of Ukraine, see Internal Troops.
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[edit] Notes
- ^ when Soviet secret police were separated into the KGB.
- ^ Soviet Internal Troops in Ukraine were directly subordinated to its separate central command within the Soviet Ministry of Internal Affairs, except for a short period in the 1960s; the same is true of prison administration.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- How Top Spies in Ukraine Changed the Nation's Path by K.J.Chivers of the New York Times
- How the Gongadze Case Has Been Investigated (June 2005 Ukrayinska Pravda article on the history of the Gongadze Case investigation) (Ukrainian)
- The Key Witness in the Gongadze Case Dead (March 2005 Ukrayinska Pravda article on the death of Kravchenko, analysing also his role in the Gongadze case - includes fragments of the Melnychenko recordings) (Ukrainian)
[edit] External links
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